Keep
your eyes open!...
May 30, 2014
(1Pe
4:14-16) If you be reproached for the name of Christ, you shall be
blessed: for that which is of the honour, glory and power of God, and
that which is his Spirit resteth upon you. But let none of you suffer
as a murderer or a thief or a railer or coveter of other men's things.
But, if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed: but let him glorify God
in that name.
ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON: How Modern Heresies Isolate Us and Leave Us Unfulfilled by Msgr. Charles Pope
ESSAY: The Abhorrence of Liberalism by Jim J. McCrea
*Liberalism,* whether religious or secular, is based upon *self,*
in the satisfaction of one's own pride and concupiscence,
regardless of the consequences to others, to the Church, or to
society. That is why liberalism as an ideology is so abhorrent.
Liberalism is fundamentally an atomizing principle in which
the unholy Trinity of "me, myself, and I" are at the center of
reality.
In an "idea" liberal society, there would be as many gods as
there are individuals. No common good is recognized to provide
cohesion, harmony, and peace.
As we can know by merely logical principles, atomization is
the disintegration of a thing. Liberalism causes both Church and
society to disintegrate (if liberals get along with respect to
some project, it is only a manifestation of what is known as
*compatible egotisms.* That states that "I will let your pride go
so far, if you let my pride go so far." It involved a barter of
various types of intellectual and psychological "goods." There is
no true love involved)
Orthodoxy (right thinking) and traditional values, on the
other hand, rest on the primacy of the fundamental metaphysical
moment of the "other." Self is transcended to serve that which is
other than the self and higher than the self.
We can see this in the old style Western ethic where one
fulfilled oneself by serving family, neighbor, country, Church,
and God. Getting out of oneself in that way made one happy, and
made for peace and goodness in society.
But the old style ethic has been replaced by a new ethic in
which *self* is the center. We can see this on mainstream TV,
secular magazines, and men's and woman's magazines. Those are all
about satisfying one's appetites and actualizing oneself. The
"other" is only a means to that end and not an end it itself.
Such a thing is also bolstered in academia in disciplines such
as psychology, sociology, and anthropology. In the modern
secular variants of these disciplines, human action is reduced to
fulfilling self (or to serving the species through autonomous
instinctive mechanisms brought about by "natural selection").
There is no recognition of the virtue of *integrity* where one
does what is good or right, simply because it is good or right.
This has resulting in all the terrible problems that have
developed in society and the Church over the past 40 years. A
total coldness towards neighbor, widespread psychological violence
as one tries to build one's ego on the carcasses of another's
(which sometimes degenerates into physical violence), is now the
norm. It accounts for all the meaninglessness and emptiness that
people experience today in a land of material plenty.
People today mistakenly believe that they can find happiness
where it cannot be found - by having a fundamental self
centered orientation (which our culture encourages right now).
Only by getting back to the older style values, in getting out
of oneself to serve the "other," will happiness, peace, and
prosperity return to society.
One who looks for their "rights" in the Church, precisely,
by bucking Church teaching and discipline, or one who looks
for their "rights" in society by demanding contraception,
abortion, euthanasia, divorce (divorce outside of real necessity),
fornication, alternate sexualities, can only create a hell for
themselves in this world which will turn into eternal hell at
death (if unrepentant).
It is simply *impossible* for happiness to emerge with such a selfist ethical orientation.
That is not because of arbitrary religious dogma or because of
some decree that God has decided on, but because the very laws and
design of human nature, when violated, brings of itself disastrous
results. It is simply a matter of natural cause and effect.
MORE BY JIM J. McCrae: The Logic of the Culture of Death
CRISIS MAGAZINE: Obedience and the Christian Life
RON SMITH REPORT: Chaos
Note from Ron: To receive my Catholic Q&A reports please contact me with your correct email address.
IN THE NEWS: New ‘morality clause’ at Catholic schools prompts outcry
SPIRITDAILY:
"They have given every American a cell phone, a computer, an iPad, a
car, a six pack, and a TV full of sports (or Kardashians, plus a job,
for now) -- and that seems to be all it takes for indifference of the
potentially enslaving kind."
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
45. A hermit said, 'If you fall
ill, do not complain. If the Lord God has willed that your body
should be weakened, who are you to complain about it? Does he not
care for you in all your needs? Surely you sould not be alive
without him. Be patient in your illness and ask God to give you
what is right, that is, that which will enable you to do his will, and
be patient, and eat what you have in charity.'
May 29, 2014
(Php 4:6-7) Be
nothing solicitous: but in every thing, by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And the
peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus.
Have
confidence in the Providence that so far has never failed us. The way
is not yet clear. Grope along slowly. Do not press matters; be patient,
be trustful. With Jesus, what shall we have to fear?
- Saint Théodore Guérin (1798-1856)
MARK MALLET BLOG: The New Gideon
YOUTUBE: Jim Caviezel - Inspirational video
EXCERPT ALETEIA: Prayer Is the Only Way- This life is difficult, frightening at times, and even risky. But you can find peace in God. by Fr. James Farfaglia
It is true that the adversities of
life can challenge our faith. Many times we seek instant
solutions for our problems. Faith allows us to be calm and
patient, since it is faith that allows us to trust. God does not
have an email address. He is not as fast as a microwave
oven. He does not work like instant oatmeal. God is
different because he is eternal.
Of necessity, the gift of faith needs to be cultivated if it is to
flourish. We must cultivate our faith through prayer,
study, and a well disciplined spiritual life. Moreover, the best
way to cultivate the gift of faith is through our daily encounter
with our Eucharistic Lord. The Eucharist is the mystery of faith.
The Eucharist must be the center of our spiritual lives. Daily
Mass, adoration, and frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament will
ignite the fire of faith and provide us with the strength that we need
to journey every day towards eternal life.
Moreover, aside from a deep Eucharistic life, a deep life of prayer is
essential for us to have. Prayer is conversation with God. Prayer
is a continual being in love because God is real and personal.
No matter what might be going on in our lives, we must
always pray, and pray daily. Prayer is the air that we breathe.
When I speak to you about a life of prayer, I am not referring to the
mere saying of prayers. I am talking about something much deeper.
There are different types of prayer. One form of prayer is
vocal prayer and another form of prayer is mental prayer. There
are two types of mental prayer. One form of mental prayer is
meditation and the other form of mental prayer is contemplation.
Meditation and contemplation are quite different. The person who
meditates usually uses the Scriptures or some other spiritual book.
Contemplation does not employ any books at all.
Contemplation is the prayer of the heart. It is the prayer of
being in God’s presence. It is a gift from God. It is the
prayer of allowing God to pray in you. My website contains
a short e-book that explains Contemplative Prayer in easy terms that
everyone can understand.
You do not have to live in a monastery to be a contemplative.
Everyone can be a contemplative. No matter what your
profession may be, everyone has the possibility of having a deep
relationship with Jesus.
One of the greatest challenges that we encounter is our inability to
see and to listen to God. We are caught up in the distractions of
daily life that prevent us from really encountering God.
Our busy lives require refreshing times of prayer throughout the day.
If we fail to incorporate prayer into our schedules, we will be
overcome by the difficulties and challenges of life. Prayer feeds
faith. Saint Teresa of Avila, the famous Spanish mystic, once
wrote: “Let nothing trouble you. Let nothing frighten you.
Everything passes. God never changes. Patience
obtains all. Whoever has God, wants for nothing. God alone
is enough.” (Poesías 30)
A serious life of contemplative prayer
is very important for the times in which we live. The traditional
structures of support that have made our lives comfortable and easy are
presently engulfed in confusion, but transformation is slowly taking
place.
God is moving us away from clinging to things, people and institutions.
He is calling us to detachment, to the desert, to the journey
into the night of naked faith. He is calling us to cling to him,
and only him. This journey is difficult, frightening at times,
and even risky. But, those who embark upon the journey will be
transformed into living witnesses of the God of love.
My dear friends, this may sound a bit extreme, but I have reached the
conclusion that the only way that we will be able to handle the
challenges of our times and the difficulties that are to unfold is
through the exercise of daily contemplative prayer. This is true
because contemplative prayer allows us to experience the peace that
only God can give us.
Faith allows us to be calm and patient, since it is faith that allows
us to trust. “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14: 1).
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
41. There was a hermit who was
often ill. But one year he did not fall ill and he was very upset and
wept saying, 'The Lord has left me, and he has not visited me.'
May 27, 2014
(Luk 22:39) And going out, he went, according to his custom, to the Mount of Olives. And his disciples also followed him.
EXCERPT: Pope Francis: discourse to priests, religious, seminarians in Holy Land
At the hour which God had appointed to save humanity from its
enslavement to sin, Jesus came here, to Gethsemane, to the foot of the
Mount of Olives. We now find ourselves in this holy place, a place
sanctified by the prayer of Jesus, by his agony, by his sweating of
blood, and above all by his “yes” to the loving will of the Father. We
dread in some sense to approach what Jesus went through at that hour;
we tread softly as we enter that inner space where the destiny of the
world was decided.
In that hour, Jesus felt the need to pray and to have with him his
disciples, his friends, those who had followed him and shared most
closely in his mission. But here, at Gethsemane, following him became
difficult and uncertain; they were overcome by doubt, weariness and
fright. As the events of Jesus’ passion rapidly unfolded, the
disciples would adopt different attitudes before the Master: attitudes
of closeness, distance, hesitation.
Here, in this place, each of us – bishops, priests, consecrated
persons, and seminarians – might do well to ask: Who am I, before the
sufferings of my Lord?
Am I among those who, when Jesus asks them to keep watch with him, fall
asleep instead, and rather than praying, seek to escape, refusing to
face reality?
Or do I see myself in those who fled out of fear, who abandoned the Master at the most tragic hour in his earthly life?
Is there perhaps duplicity in me, like that of the one who sold our
Lord for thirty pieces of silver, who was once called Jesus’ “friend”,
and yet ended up by betraying him?
Do I see myself in those who drew back and denied him, like Peter?
Shortly before, he had promised Jesus that he would follow him even
unto death (cf. Lk 22:33); but then, put to the test and assailed by
fear, he swore he did not know him.
Am I like those who began planning to go about their lives without him,
like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, foolish and slow of heart
to believe the words of the prophets (cf. Lk 24:25)?
Or, thanks be to God, do I find myself among those who remained
faithful to the end, like the Virgin Mary and the Apostle John? On
Golgotha, when everything seemed bleak and all hope seemed pointless,
only love proved stronger than death. The love of the Mother and the
beloved disciple made them stay at the foot of the Cross, sharing in
the pain of Jesus, to the very end.
Do I recognize myself in those who imitated their Master to the point
of martyrdom, testifying that he was everything to them, the
incomparable strength sustaining their mission and the ultimate horizon
of their lives?
Jesus’ friendship with us, his faithfulness and his mercy, are a
priceless gift which encourages us to follow him trustingly,
notwithstanding our failures, our mistakes, also our betrayals.
But the Lord’s goodness does not dispense us from the need for
vigilance before the Tempter, before sin, before the evil and the
betrayal which can enter even into the religious and priestly life.
We are all exposed to sin, to evil, to betrayal. We are fully
conscious of the disproportion between the grandeur of God’s call and
of own littleness, between the sublimity of the mission and the reality
of our human weakness. Yet the Lord in his great goodness and his
infinite mercy always takes us by the hand lest we drown in the sea of
our fears and anxieties. He is ever at our side, he never abandons
us. And so, let us not be overwhelmed by fear or disheartened, but
with courage and confidence let us press forward in our journey and in
our mission.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: Pope Francis in the Holy Land 2014
INSIDE THE VATICAN COMMENTARY: Letter #17, 2014: An unscheduled stop, and a proposal
ON VIDEO
Pope Francis at the Nativity Grotto
Pope Francis visits Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Pope Francis Prayer at the Wailing Wall
MORE HOMILIES
Pope Francis: homily in the Upper Room
Patriarch Bartholomew's Homily at Prayer Service With Pope
Francis' Address at Prayer Service With Patriarch Bartholomew
PILGRIMAGE RECAPS
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Wrap Up
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
38. A hermit said, 'The monk's cell
is the furnace in Babylon in which the three children found the Son of
God. It is the pillar of cloud out of which God spoke to Moses.'
May 23, 2014
(1Co 11:26) For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come.
POPE FRANCIS: “At
times someone may ask: ‘Why must one go to Church, given that those who
regularly participate in Holy Mass are still sinners like the others?’
We have heard it many times! In reality, the one celebrating the
Eucharist doesn’t do so because he believes he is or wants to appear
better than others, but precisely because he acknowledges that he is
always in need of being accepted and reborn by the mercy of God, made
flesh in Jesus Christ. If any one of us does not feel in need of the
mercy of God, does not see himself as a sinner, it is better for him
not to go to Mass! We go to Mass because we are sinners and we want to
receive God’s pardon, to participate in the redemption of Jesus, in his
forgiveness.”
VIDEO: Archbishop Sample: Pontifical Mass Homily
LINK: Serving the Holy Mass of Padre Pio
EXCERPT BOOK REVIEW: Behold the Mystery: A Deeper Understanding of the Catholic Mass
The first thing Hart does
is set up the problem, illustrated in the question asked by his
daughter, “Why is Mass so boring?” The answers are typical: the
mistaken idea of not enough entertainment value, loss of mystery,
fallen-away Catholics, churches converted into bicycle garages, and the
after-Mass rush to get the best doughnuts.
Pity us.
The problem, however, is so much deeper than those of us in the modern
Church who are lacking; it’s the entire “postmodern” world that is
intentionally lacking. Those who read this monthly review know a little
about postmodernism with its deliberate secularism (removing religious
belief from the public square) and its insidious relativism in which
all beliefs are the same, neither worse than nor better than any other
beliefs. It’s not only that we lack a sense of mystery; it’s that the
whole world tells us that there is no mystery, no absolute truth to
cling to, and no real beliefs to hold, which I have quoted over and
over again.
So now what is Mark Hart supposed to do for us?
He pushes forward, making the following mysterious things completely
understandable to the non-theological: the sabbath, worship, tradition,
the priesthood, true community, liturgy, wedding rings, God’s desire
for intimacy, and understanding our role in the kingdom.
EXCERPT: John Adams Letter On The Catholic Mass
"This afternoon, led by curiosity and good company, I strolled away to
mother church, or rather grandmother church. I mean the Romish chapel.
I heard a good, short moral essay upon the duty of parents to their
children, founded in justice and charity, to take care of their
interests, temporal and spiritual. This afternoon’s entertainment was
to me most awful and affecting; the poor wretches fingering their
beads, chanting Latin, not a word of which they understood; their pater
nosters and ave Marias; their holy water; their crossing themselves
perpetually; their bowing to the name of Jesus, whenever they hear it;
their bowings, kneelings and genuflections before the altar. The dress
of the priest was rich white lace. His pulpit was velvet and gold. The
altar-piece was very rich, little images and crucifixes about; wax
candles lighted up. But how shall I describe the picture of our Savior
in a frame of marble over the altar, at full length, upon the cross in
the agonies, and the blood dropping and streaming from his wounds! The
music, consisting of an organ and a choir of singers, went all the
afternoon except sermon time, and the assembly chanted most sweetly and
exquisitely.
Here is everything which can lay hold of the eye, ear, and
imagination–everything which can charm and bewitch the simple and
ignorant. I wonder how Luther ever broke the spell. Adieu."
OF RELATED INTEREST: America’s First Mass
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
37. When a brother was troubled by
thoughts of leaving the monastery, he told this to his abbot. He said,
'Go and sit down, and entrust your body to your cell, as a man puts a
precious possession into a safe, and do not go out of it. Then let your
thoughts go where they will. Let your mind think what it likes, so long
as it does not drive your body out of the cell.'
May 19, 2014
(Joh
14:21-24) He that hath my commandments and keepeth them; he it is that
loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father: and I
will love him and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith to him, not
the Iscariot: Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us,
and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him: If any one love
me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him and we will come
to him and will make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth
not my words. And the word which you have heard is not mine; but the
Father's who sent me.
ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT: Love is our mission: The family fully alive
MSGR CHARLES POPE: Some Good Common Sense on Marriage, Sexuality, and the Family
A MOMENT WITH MARY: My Immaculate Heart will triumph: What does this mean?
“Finally, I would like to revisit
another key message of the secret made quite rightly famous: ‘My
Immaculate Heart will triumph.’ What does this mean?” Cardinal
Ratzinger asked.
He answered: the triumph of one who
leaves everything to God like Mary did, and in imitation of Mary: “The
heart that is open to God, purified by the contemplation of God, is
stronger than guns and arms of all kinds.” The victory of Mary's Heart
therefore is an appeal to the freedom of each Christian to enter into
God's loving plan for us on a daily basis.
And he also explained: “Mary's
fiat, the word of her heart, changed the course of history, because she
introduced the Savior into the world – since, thanks to her 'yes,' God
could become man in our world and remain so for ever. The devil has
some power over this world, we can see it and experience it
continually; he has some power because our freedom accepts to be
diverted from God.”
RON ROLHEISER, OMI: God Judges No One
It’s a false question. God doesn’t
send anyone to hell and God doesn’t deal out eternal punishment. God
offers us life and the choice is ours as to whether we accept that or
not.
God, Jesus tells us, doesn’t judge
anyone. We judge ourselves. God doesn’t create hell and God doesn’t
send anyone to hell. But that doesn’t mean that hell doesn’t exist and
that it isn’t a possibility for us.
Here, in essence, is how Jesus explains this:
God sends his life into the world
and we can choose that life or reject it. We judge ourselves in making
that choice. If we choose life, we are ultimately choosing heaven. If
we reject life, we end up living outside of life and that ultimately is
hell. But we make that choice: God doesn’t send us anywhere. Moreover,
hell is not a positive punishment created by God to make us suffer.
Hell is the absence of something, namely, living inside of the life
that’s offered to us.
As Jesus tells us in John’s Gospel:
“God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in
order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in
him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned
already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of
God. And this is the judgment, the light has come into the world, and
the people loved darkness rather than light … I judge no one.”
To read more click here: http://ronrolheiser.com/god-judges-no-one/#.U3YzMS_pjxY
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
36. A hermit said, 'A tree cannot bear fruit if it is often transplanted. So it is with the monk.'
May 15, 2014
(Joh 17:20-22)
And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their
word shall believe in me. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in
me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou hast given me,
I have given to them: that, they may be one, as we also are one.
BC CATHOLIC: Pope Francis will make history in the Holy Land
The principal purpose of the visit of
Pope Francis to the Holy Land May 24-26 will not be a conventional
pilgrimage like those of Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Emeritus
Benedict XVI. It is to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the meeting
between Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I.
The commemoration will be observed - indeed celebrated - by Francis
meeting with Bartholomew, the successor of Athenagoras as ecumenical
patriarch. This is a very different type of pilgrimage. Although the
Pope will go to Jerusalem, there will be no trip to Nazareth,
Capernaum, the Mount of the Beatitudes, or the Sea of Galilee, all very
important places for pilgrims.
Instead the Pope will meet with the ecumenical patriarch in Jerusalem
and they will sign a joint statement. They will then meet at the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre, enter together, and pray together.
The next day they will meet and pray at the Mount of Olives, the place
of the Garden of Gethsemane. While all of this might seem somewhat
anticlimactic for the average Christian, this "non-conventional"
pilgrimage is immensely important.
The meeting between Pope Paul VI and
Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I in Jerusalem in 1964 was, therefore,
not a meeting of "old friends." It was a brave and prophetic act on the
part of the two to overcome 1,000 years of hostility.
Indeed it was the first time that a Pope had met with an ecumenical
patriarch since the ill-fated Council of Florence. It seems that as a
result of their meeting, Paul VI and Athenagoras developed a deep
mutual respect and friendship.
As a further result of the meeting in Jerusalem, relations between the
two churches have slowly but steadily improved. In 1965, in a symbolic
gesture, the Pope and patriarch rescinded the mutual excommunications
of their 11th-century predecessors.
The meeting between Francis and
Bartholomew is extremely important. The fact the Holy See stresses that
it is the "principle purpose" of the Pope's visit to the Middle East
and Holy Land underlines the significance of the event.
As a celebration of the anniversary
of the meeting 50 years ago, the meeting in May is a look back, but it
is far more than that. It is as historic as the meeting half a century
ago. It is the commitment of both Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew to take the "next step" on the pilgrimage toward unity that
their predecessors initiated courageously.
This renewed collaboration is crucial if Christians are to survive the instability in the region.
MORE: Orthodox bishop outlines hopes for Pope’s visit to Israel
LINK: Pope Francis' Holy Land visit: The Itinerary
RELATED
Orthodox Jews gather to protest against Pope's Jerusalem trip
Holy Land Christians hope Pope Francis' visit might revive peace talks
Moslem Fatwa Allows Visits To Al-Aksa Mosque
PRAYER:
“Heavenly Father, you never tire of being compassionate and loving. The
successor of St Peter plans to visit the Holy Land sanctified by your
Son’s birth, baptism, teaching, death and resurrection. Be with him,
sanctify him, and bless him. Spread the mantle of your kindness over
every stage of his pilgrimage among us, that one may see in him a
believing pilgrim, a wise teacher, and a humble leader”.
Source: Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
32. It used to be said that if you
were tempted where you were living, you should not leave the place at
the time of the temptation. If you did leave it then, you would
find that the temptation that you were fleeing would go with you to the
next place. You should be patient until the temptation is over,
then you could leave without upsetting anyone or troubling others who
lived there.
May 13, 2014
(Rev 12:3-5)
And there was seen another sign in heaven. And behold a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and on his heads seven
diadems. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and
cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was
ready to be delivered: that, when she should be delivered, he might
devour her son. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all
nations with an iron rod. And her son was taken up to God and to his
throne.
Rev. Gabriele Amorth:“The
sad truth is that there are many bishops and priests in our church who
do not really believe in the Devil. I believe Pope Francis is
speaking to them. Because when you don’t believe, the Devil wins.”
IN THE NEWS: Satanic mass riles Catholics
CATHOLIC ONLINE: The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima: Site of a vision of the Virgin Mary
VIDEO: Fatima for Today - Dr. Miravalle
TRACT EXCERPT: Our Lady of Fatima
We celebrate the feast of Our Lady of
Fatima on May 13th. On this day in 1917, Our Lady made her first
appearance to three shepherd children, Jacinta (age 7), Francisco (age
9) and Lucia (age 10), at Fatima in Portugal. She appeared to
them once a month from May through October. The lives of the
three children of Fatima were entirely transformed by the heavenly
apparitions. While fulfilling the duties of their state with the
greatest fidelity, those children seemed now to live only for prayer
and sacrifice, which they offered in a spirit of reparation to obtain
peace and the conversion of sinners. They deprived themselves of
water during the periods of great heat; they gave their lunch to poor
children; they wore around their waists thick cords that even drew
blood; they abstained from innocent pleasures and urged one another to
the practice of prayer and penance with an ardor comparable to that of
the great saints.
A Sure Means of Salvation
Our Lady communicated with Lucia, the oldest of the three children, in
her six monthly appearances. She asked the Blessed Virgin Mary to
take them to Heaven. "Yes," Our Lady answered, "I will take
Jacinta and Francisco soon. You, however, are to stay here a
longer time. Jesus wants to use you to make me known and
loved. He wants to establish the devotion to my Immaculate Heart
in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it and
their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by myself to adorn
His throne".
There are three principal practices of
devotion which Our Lady has requested in honor of her Immaculate
Heart: the First Saturday of the month, the Five First Saturdays,
and the Consecration of Russia. They bear a marked similarity to
the devotions in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
- The practice of the First Saturdays - It consists of the
following exercises, performed with the intention of consoling the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, and making reparation to it for all the
outrages and blasphemies of which it is the object on the part of
ungrateful Christians: 1. the Rosary; 2. Communion of
Reparation.
- The practice of the Five First Saturdays - In addition to
the two exercises already mentioned, the following two are added on the
first Saturday of five consecutive months: 3. go to
confession; 4. keep the company of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
by meditating for a quarter of an hour on the mysteries of the
Rosary. These two must be offered in reparation to the Immaculate
Heart . The meditation may be on one or several mysteries.
- Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary - Our Lady
asked that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart and Lucia, one
of the seers, has explained that Our Lady wants the Pope and all the
bishops of the world to do this on one special day. If this is
done She will convert Russia and there will be peace . . . (related link and here).
In all of Our Lady’s apparitions at
Fatima, she insisted on praying the Rosary. “Pray the Rosary every day
to obtain peace for the world”. Lucy is heard to repeat as if to retain well what Our Lady had first
recommended to her: “Yes, she wishes people to recite the Rosary,
people must recite the Rosary,” She asked them to add after each decade
the short prayer: “Oh my Jesus forgive us our sins; save us from the
fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need
of thy mercy.” In the final apparition on October 13, 1917, Our Lady
silently held out the scapular (the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel). Lucia had said the Blessed Mother wants everyone to wear it.
“The Scapular and the Rosary are inseparable.”
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
31. A hermit lived in the desert
twelve miles from the nearest water. Once, on his way to draw
water, he was tired out. So he said, 'Why suffer this? I
will come and live by the spring.' As soon as he said this, he turned
round and saw a man following him and counting his steps. He
asked him, 'Who are you? He said, 'I am an angel of the Lord,
sent to count your steps and reward you.' When the hermit heard this,
his resolve was strengthed, and he moved his cell five miles further
from the spring.'
May 10, 2014
(Isa 55:8-9) For
my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, saith the
Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways
exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.
MARK MALLLET BLOG: Prophecy Properly Understood
THE VORTEX: On Private Revelation
RON SMITH REPORT: Laying on Hands
Note from Ron: To receive my Catholic Q&A reports please contact me with your correct email address.
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Jim J. McCrea: Resolving Evil in Eternity
Someone against the doctrine of divine providence states:
"God is not purifying a child who was burned, a soldier who was
dismembered, a woman who was raped. God is with them all as God was
with Jesus on the cross but we are human and we get sick or get
injured."
God is omnipotent. He can do all things. If God is all powerful, He can
prevent any or all of these things from happening. Since they do in
fact happen, we must conclude that God permits them. As St. Augustine
said, "Since God is the highest good, He would not allow any evil to
exist in His works, unless His omnipotence and goodness were such as to
bring good even out of evil."(Enchiridion xi). Many evils which are
possible, God in fact prevents. He strictly sets the bounds of
evil in this world (and in an individual person's life) as
the shore sets the bounds of the sea. If God did not have absolute
control of what evils occur, St. Paul's passage could not be
realized. "He will not let you be tested beyond your strength. Along
with the test he will give you a way out of it so that you may be able
to endure it." (1 Cor. 10:13) and "We know that God makes all things
work together for the good of those who love God and are called
according to His decree." (Rom. 8:28)
Someone objects:
"God does not torture us [or allow it to be done] for some greater good. If God did, God is no God at all."
That assumes that God is on the same level as us, as simply a creature
who flows through time as we do, perceiving good and evil as we do.
God, however, is in eternity - that is, He is outside of time,
seeing all time at once. His entire life is in an immobile *now,*
without past or future. All is present to Him. That gives Him a
radically different and higher perspective that we have little notion
of now.
It is within this perspective of eternity that evil is resolved. In
eternity, evil is transcended and transfigured, so the evil He allows
in time, becomes part of the good within eternity.
An analogy my help to explain this. Life on earth is good and evil. It
is a mixture of light and shadow. On earth, as we travel through time
in this life, we experience good and evil in succession. We experience
joy and pain in succession. We experience light and darkness in
succession. But in the eternal perspective in heaven, we
will experience this all at once. This is how God sees our
lives, and how we will see them in heaven. It is like a Rembrandt
painting which is beautiful because it has striking contrasts of light
and dark. But we must see the whole painting at once to appreciate
that. An individual region of darkness is a pure absence. It
is a pure negation. And if some being who was traveling across the
painting (analogous to our journey through life) happened to be
situated over a region of darkness, it would probably experience
suffering due to the negative nature of that region. It is only after
that creature had "died" and could see the whole painting at once, will
those regions of darkness which caused pain previously, be a source of
joy.
We can provide some practical examples. An ancient and venerable
artifact may be weathered and worn by time. That state of being
weathered and worn is an ontological evil because it takes away
from the integrity of its being. But given the context of its antiquity
and its "enduring" through time, that state of being weathered and worn
actually adds to its beauty and charm. That beauty and charm is only
there because we, in some way, understand the entire temporal
duration of the artifact.
When a person grows older, certain distortions occur on the face
because the body due to age, can no longer maintain its proper form.
This is an ontological evil because it is the absence of ideal form.
However, it contributes to the good on another level because it may
denote wisdom that the person has acquired by living a long life. So
this ontological evil contributes to the good, actually adding charm
and beauty on the spiritual level. This is possible by only taking into
account the person's life "all at once," with the necessary phases of
youth, middle age, and old age.
Consider the example of St. Therese. The tuberculosis she suffered
near the end of her life which ended her life was an evil in
itself. But considering her life as a whole, her sainthood would have
been less beautiful without it.
Finally, Christ's passion was evil in itself, but God's plan overall has much more goodness and beauty with it included.
Only in eternity will evil be resolved in this way, and what caused the
greatest pain on earth, will be the occasion for the greatest joy in
heaven. In a sense, we will bring our wounds to heaven, but they will
be glorious and not painful.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
30. A brother said to a hermit, 'My
thoughts wander, and I am troubled.' He answered, 'Go on sitting in
your cell, and your thoughts will come back from their wanderings. If a
she-ass is tethered, her foal skips and gambols all round her but
always comes back to the mother. It is like that for anyone who for
God's sake sits patiently in his cell. Though his thoughts wander for a
time, they will come back to Him again.'
May 8, 2014
(Joh 15:19-21)
If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because
you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. Remember my word that I said to you:
The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me,
they will also persecute you. If they have kept my word, they will keep
yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name's
sake: because they know not him that sent me.
RNS: Christian leaders say Middle East Christians must not be forgotten
Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox
leaders joined forces on Wednesday (May 7) to call for an end to the
silence over persecuted Christian communities in Egypt, Iraq and Syria.
“What we are seeing here is ecumenical cleansing,” said Leith Anderson,
president of the National Association of Evangelicals, who called the
region “the unsafest place in the world for Christians.”
“It’s an ecumenical cleansing that is
forcing people who are Christians, by whatever label, out of countries
where their roots are from the beginning.” Anderson and others were
joined on Capitol Hill by the co-chairs of the Religious Minorities in
the Middle East Caucus, Reps. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Anna Eshoo,
D-Calif., who have pushed for the appointment of a special envoy
focused on Middle East religious minorities.
More than 180 clergy, seminary professors, authors and activists have
signed a “pledge of solidarity and call to action” that advocates for
the special envoy in addition to a regional review of U.S. foreign aid
to ensure recipients uphold principles of pluralism and religious
freedom. They also seek assurance that religious minorities receive
fair access to U.S. refugee assistance.
“The current trajectory, marked by political violence and, in the cases
of Iraq and Syria, full-blown war, risks a Middle East largely emptied
of the millennia-old presence of Christians,” reads the statement,
citing cases of executed Christians, demolished churches, kidnapped
clergy and forced conversions.
Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl said
that if people wonder how atrocities like this violence and persecution
can be occurring, it is because others are silent.
“If history has any lesson to teach us about silence, it’s not a good
one,” he said, urging both the churches and lawmakers to take action to
protect the religious freedom of Christians and other religious
minorities in the Middle East.
MORE:
With the rise of Islamist extremists, this situation has become so
acute that, regarding the Christians, it is not only individuals who
are threatened. The presence of the entire Christian community in the
region of its birth is at stake. The pledge emphasizes:
"Since these communities account
for most of the indigenous Christians in today's Middle East, the
continued presence of Christians in the region where Christianity
originated 2,000 years ago is threatened."
The pledge states that Egypt, Iraq
and Syria have seen "scores of churches deliberately destroyed, many
clergy and laypeople targeted for death, kidnapping, intimidation and
forcible conversion, and hundreds of thousands of believers driven from
their countries."
Specific patterns of attacks detailed in the pledge include:
- Christians, including some clergy, after being identified as such
by their names, identity cards, or some other means, have been
beheaded, shot execution-style or otherwise brutally murdered. Clergy
have also been killed for their peace-making efforts or simply as
personifications of the Christian faith.
- Untold numbers of Christians, including bishops, priests, pastors, and nuns, have been kidnapped and held for ransom.
- Young women have been abducted and forced to convert to Islam and marry their captors.
- In some instances, Christians have been told to convert to Islam or be killed; some have been forced to pay protection money.
- Muslim apostasy and blasphemy codes and standards for dress,
occupation and social behavior are being enforced for Christians, as
well as for Muslims, in some communities.
- The assaults continue despite rejection by the majority of
Muslims and condemnation by prominent Muslim voices, such as Jordan's
Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed and Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Sistani, as the
pledge is clear in emphasizing.
TEXT: PLEDGE OF SOLIDARITY & CALL TO ACTION on behalf of Christians and Other Small Religious Communities in Egypt, Iraq and Syria
LATIN PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM: Persecution of Christians in the Middle East: Communiqué of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land
RELATED HEADLINES
Holy Land Christians Look Forward to Pope Francis’ Visit
Aleppo Diary: Stories from the Front Lines
Syria - Hear the cries of the children
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
28. A hermit was asked by a brother
why, when he stayed in his cell, he suffered boredom. He answered, "You
have not yet seen the resurrection for which we hope, nor the torment
of fire. If you had seen these, then you would bear your cell without
boredom even if it was filled with worms and you were standing in them
up to your neck.'
May 6, 2014
POPE FRANCIS:
“I would like to invite you to entrust to Our Lady the situation in
Ukraine, where tensions continue unabated. I pray with you for
the victims of recent days, asking that the Lord instill sentiments of
peacemaking and brotherhood in the hearts of everyone.”
NEWS UPDATE: New Violence Pushes Ukraine to the Brink of Civil War
NEWS COMMENTARY: Ukraine Heats Up ... Will Control Slip?
EXCERPT NATIONALREVIEW: A Message for Russia (and the World) From the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Ukraine
“does exist and will exist,” Major-Archbishop Shevchuk insisted. The
Russian attack on Ukraine, he underscored, was not just military and
para-military; it was “psychological,” aimed at deconstructing the very
idea of Ukrainian nationhood, and thus Ukrainian statehood. And to that
end, the extraordinary Russian propaganda blitz of recent months has
been aimed at sowing “fear and panic” in a populace already on edge
because of the failures of the Yanukovych regime and the struggle to
reverse those failures embodied in the Maidan movement.
But “we are prepared,” Shevchuk said. And by “prepared,” I take it he
meant that the resolve of the Ukrainian people, supported by their
religious leaders, was strong enough to cope with the Big Lie tactics
that continue to emanate from Russia — and from Russian mouthpieces in
Western Europe and North America.
Major-Archbishop Shevchuk then
said he had “a message for Russia” and “a message for the Russian
Orthodox Church,” which he hoped I would transmit — a message all the
more striking in light of the aggressions underway against the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Russian-ingested Crimea.
To the Russian people: “We in Ukraine wish to be good neighbors. Do not
attack us. We are not your enemies, and we have no aggressive
intentions.”
And to the Russian Orthodox Church:
“The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is not an enemy of the Russian
Orthodox Church. We are your brothers; we have been born from the same
spiritual womb. From the holy city of Kiev, where our peoples were
baptized, we are sending you a message of peace. Do not let politicians
provoke hatred and bloodshed among us.”
RELATED EDITORIALS
Ukraine and Christian disunity: Earthly causes, spiritual effects
Religion and Politics in Ukraine
Defender of The Faith?
CATHOLIC UPDATE: What All Catholics Should Know About Eastern Catholic Churches
A MOMENT WITH MARY, APRIL 26, 2014: The Statue of Fatima and the Hope of Ukraine
The makeshift tent-chapels on Maidan Square were destroyed in a fire
during the riots—even though the violence was not aimed directly at the
chapels.
Minutes before the fire broke out, a statue of Our Lady of Fatima had
been removed for a special ceremony. As a result, the statue was
preserved and is now “a sign of hope for us,” according to the local
bishop.
Every day at 3 P.M., the Rosary is prayed on the square. The bishop
explained that it was heartening to see the profound solidarity,
without any religious discrimination between people. They all share in
common whatever they have—clothes, blankets, and food—console each
other and support each other spiritually. Many also donate blood.
Bishop Stanislav Szyrokoradiuk, Latin rite diocese of Kiev – Jitomir
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
26.
A hermit said, 'Our predecessors were reluctant to move from place to
place, except perhaps for three reasons: first, if a man was angry with
them and no amount of satisfaction would calm him down; secondly, if
many praised them; and thirdly, if they wre tempted to lust.'
May 2, 2014
(1Pe 1:17-19) And
if you invoke as Father him who, without respect of persons, judgeth
according to every one's work: converse in fear during the time of your
sojourning here. Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of the tradition
of your fathers: But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
unspotted and undefiled.
EXCERPT ALETEIA: Our False Compassion Ignores the Reality of Sin - To the Grave Detriment of Souls
We shouldn't lose sight of the Christian belief that we are all called
to repentance, not murmurs of “oops, pard'n me.” Our God is a forgiving
God, not an excusing one. The intentional effort to please Him is one
of the things that sets the righteous apart from the rest, and we
should at least try to hone our ability to recognize righteousness when
we see it, while hating and fearing its opposite, both in ourselves and
in others.
Here are a couple easy examples to get us warmed up: When the Little
Sisters of the Poor stand their ground against powers and
principalities, crying out, “[w]e cannot violate our vows by
participating in the government’s program to provide access to
abortion-inducing drugs,” we ought to recognize that these women are
practicing the cardinal virtue of courage. They are acting
"righteously." They are "good." When our president wages war on
religious liberty by means of curtailing the economic liberty of
Christian employers, while at the same time claiming to care about
those who are persecuted for their “life-style choices” and
economically oppressed by haters, we needn't hesitate to call him an
“unrighteous” or a “wicked” man.
Many Christians have lost their taste for this kind of terminology. But
if we can't speak in these moral terms, what good are we to each other
or to God? The immorality that makes for an unjust society is best
addressed by true, fatherly and motherly rebukes—first and most
properly applied within the Church and in the family. The alternative
of adjusting our private interactions, our public discourse, and
(inevitably) our state to prop up immoral behaviors is fundamentally
incompatible with a Christian culture.
EXCERPT PATHEOS: Do You Believe in Fairies? by Fr. Longenecker
This cafeteria Catholicism Benedict links with gluttony because
they are driven by pleasure. The cafeteria Catholics go on choosing
what they like, never realizing that in doing so they are undermining
the very Catholicism they profess. In fact Cafeteria Catholicism
doesn’t work because before too long it will cease to be Catholicism
altogether. If you think something is true because just because you
believe it, and you believe it because you have chosen to believe it
you’re living in Never Never Land.
The whole genius of Catholicism is that it is solid and real. It is
based on the life, teaching, passion, death and resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ–a real historical figure who was God in human form.
He founded the Catholic Church by giving his apostles his own divine
authority on earth. That Catholic Church is a real, historical
institution. It has laws and property and prelates and priests and
people. Each element of the Catholic Church is part human and part
divine. The Body of Christ is incarnate today in a real and solid way
within the structures and teachings and people and sacraments of this
church.
It is not fairyland. It is not a fantasy. It is not something that
happens to be true if you happen to choose to believe in it. The
Catholic Church does not exist because you clap your hands.
When Catholics fall into the ways of the world and pick and choose what
elements of the church they think is true and reject other parts they
really, in a profound way, cease to be Catholics because by doing so
they are saying, “This is not a revealed religion. This is, after all,
simply a man made rule of a man made institution. I can therefore do
what I like.” Catholics who so undermine the Catholic faith are the
true cause of the rot at the core of Catholicism. What the Catholic
Church needs now more than ever are good, solid, supernaturally
inspired, joyful, dynamic and energetic Catholics. What we need are
Catholics who are empowered by the supernatural vision of the Church of
Christ alive in the world as an objective reality.
Not something that is exists only if you happen to believe in it.
CRISIS MAGAZINE: Will Anyone End Up In Hell? by Regis Martin
MEDITATION: Thoughts
by St Theophan (1815-1894)
[Acts 4:23–31; John 5:24–30]
And they shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation (John 5:29). This is how everything ends! As
each river flows into its own sea, so the flow of each of our lives
comes, at last, to a place according to its nature. Those who will be
resurrected unto life will also be at the judgment; but the judgment
will only seal their justification, and determine their life, while the
others will be resurrected only to hear the condemnation of eternal
death.
Their life and death are characterized even now — because some do
living deeds, while others do dead and deadening deeds. Living deeds
are those which are done according to the commandments, with joy of the
spirit, unto the glory of God; dead deeds are those which are done in
opposition to the commandments with forgetfulness of God, to please
oneself and one's passions. Dead deeds are all which although in form
may not oppose the commandments, are done without any thought about God
and eternal salvation, according to some aspect of self-love.
God is life; only what contains part of Him is alive. And so whoever
has only dead and deadening deeds is bound directly for death, and on
the last day will come out into the condemnation of death; but whoever
has all living deeds is bound for eternal life, and on the last day
will come and receive it.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
30. A brother said to a hermit, 'My
thoughts wander, and I am troubled.' He answered, 'Go on sitting in
your cell, and your thoughts will come back from their wanderings. If a
she-ass is tethered, her foal skips and gambols all round her but
always comes back to the mother. It is like that for anyone who for
God's sake sits patiently in his cell. Though his thoughts wander for a
time, they will come back to Him again.'
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